Live Home Alone
in Concert Fri 12 – Sat 13 December

Ben Palmer is Artistic Director of Covent Garden Sinfonia and Chief Conductor of the Orchestra da Camera di Pordenone and Babylon Orchester Berlin. From 2017 to 2024 he was Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, ending his tenure with three performances of Mahler’s Symphony No8.

He is a regular visitor to the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé, London Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and to the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (including at the BBC Proms), and BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Debuts this season include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, Odense Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony; he will also conduct the BBC SSO in Seoul at BBC Proms Korea. As a guest conductor he has worked with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers, City of Prague Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

Personally authorised by John Williams to conduct his film scores in concert, and acclaimed as ‘a masterclass in conducting’ by Hans Zimmer, Ben Palmer is one of the world’s most sought-after specialists in conducting live to picture. With a repertoire of more than 50 films, ranging from fiendishly difficult silent movies such as Metropolis and Modern Times, to Star Wars and Top Gun: Maverick, he appears regularly at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, KKL Luzern and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He is regularly invited to conduct recording sessions for leading film and television productions, with clients including Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Music, 20th Century Fox, Studiocanal, and the LSO.

A composer and trumpeter by training, he studied at the University of Birmingham and the Royal Academy of Music, which elected him an Associate in 2017. He twice worked as rehearsal conductor for Bernard Haitink, and from 2011 to 2016 was assistant conductor to Sir Roger Norrington. He continues to be in great demand as a composer, arranger and orchestrator, most notably for Sony Classical, for whom he also regularly conducts.

See Ben Palmer conduct Home Alone in Concert and How to Train Your Dragon in Concert with the RSNO during the 2025:26 Season.

The RSNO Chorus performs in around six different programmes in up to twenty concerts across Scotland with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra each year. The RSNO Chorus has also had great success in recording with the Orchestra. Its recordings, amongst others, of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, conducted by Neeme Jӓrvi, and Holst’s The Planets, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones, have both attracted high critical acclaim.

In addition to its commitment to the Orchestra, the RSNO Chorus performs independently and has been invited to perform with orchestras in many parts of the world, establishing an international status and touring to Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Israel, Germany, Belfast, Australia, Trondheim and most recently, Amsterdam and Prague. In 2018 it performed Britten’s War Requiem with the RSNO at the BBC Proms.

The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, it is one of the most successful choruses in the UK. In recent years, it has performed practically every work in the standard choral repertoire along with contemporary works by renowned composers, including John Adams, Magnus Lindberg, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.

Stephen Doughty has been Chorus Director of the RSNO Chorus since the start of the 2022:23 Season. Since his arrival the Chorus has seen an influx of new members, and an abundance of varied and critically acclaimed performances, including Verdi’s Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem, Bruckner’s E Minor Mass and the Scottish premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio. He has also directed the Chorus in new and imaginative programmes in their own right, including Rheinberger’s glorious Mass in E flat for double choir, and concerts with percussion and organ featuring Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, the European premiere of McIntyre’s Missa Brevis and Ives’ final major choral work, Psalm 90.  Stephen’s previous 12-year tenure as Chorus Master of Belfast Philharmonic Choir included a number of world premieres, most significantly James Whitbourn’s The Seven Heavens and Philip Hammond’s Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic, performed exactly 100 years since the liner went down, and further European premieres of both Stuart Scott’s Requiem Brevis, which saw the 100-strong choir separated into eight choirs spaced around the audience, and Christopher Marshall’s Earthsong.

Stephen particularly enjoys working with amateur singers, not least leading regular singing days frequently involving up to 800 amateur singers. He was Musical Director of Edinburgh Bach Choir for 7 years and has enjoyed the directing the Garleton Singers for over 30 years, performing with them recently at the Lammermuir Festival.

Stephen plays harpsichord/organ continuo and orchestral piano and has given frequent organ recitals, including several on the grand Mulholland Organ in the Ulster Hall, Belfast. He is also in demand as an arranger and orchestrator, with a large portfolio of work particularly for young voices. He has produced a plethora of arrangements of the music of pianist Christopher Norton, including two publications of piano duets and a suite for wind sextet, and has received commissions from Children’s Classic Concerts, the Ulster Orchestra and the RSNO. Commissions from the BBC have seen his work being performed on BBC Alba and at the Last Night of the Proms, and his pieces feature on several recordings, including with the RSNO Chorus.

Finally, Stephen is an Examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.